Orchid of the Week: Sedirea japonica

Apologies for skipping my Orchid of the Week post last Friday! I think I just wasn’t in the mood for some reason. Every now and then it just feels like too much effort to blog. But no worries, because Orchid of the Week is back today with Sedirea japonica, a beautiful little plant native to (duh) Japan.

Photo credit: newworldorchids.com

This orchid has really adorable little greenish-white or cream blooms with magenta or purple blotches on the lip and some amount of barring on the petals, which varies from plant to plant. Check out the variety of blooms in these next few images:

Photo credit: orchids.org

Photo credit: KEGinMichigan, orchidboard.com

Photo credit: orchidsonline.com.au

Photo credit: Mat.Tauriello, Flickr

I’m curious as to the state of this orchid post-earthquake/tsunami disaster; I imagine that tons of wildlife was destroyed along with loads of homes, schools, and buildings.

Sedirea japonica is vandaceous (like Phalaenopsis…thanks Stefano!) and is also known as Aerides japonica…”sedirea” is “aerides” spelled backwards. For my own edification I’m going to start including the scientific classification for each of my featured orchids. So, here it is for the Sedirea japonica according to Orchid Wikia (a site that I just discovered this morning!):

Happy Long Weekend! I’ve been meaning to blog about Sedirea japonica … I have one that I acquired as a seedling in maybe 2005 or 2006 and I’ve been waiting for so long for it to bloom! I’m not sure how well it’s doing. I picked a sibling plant up for a friend at the same time and that one has bloomed repeatedly. And so I wait …

Have you seen one of these plants in real life? Saw a good sized specimen at a greenhouse once (still quite small and compact) in full bloom and they smell amazing